“It would be so much fun if all of us went for the snorkeling. How did you hurt your feet last night? And why did you not call us?” asked Jae Kyung as they were preparing for their trip.

“I was on the phone while walking down the steps, and missed a step. You all were having so much fun, so did not want to bother you,” replied Ha Jin meekly.

She was not comfortable hiding the facts from her friends. But to let them know she spent her night at Ji Hoo’s cottage would be next to impossible for her. They were of the impression that she retired sooner to her room because of her injury.

“Are you sure you will be ok? I do not want to leave you alone behind,” said Ga Eul.

“Ji Hoo said he is going to take care of her injury. Trust me, she is in the best hands,” said Woo Bin.

“Take the name and the devil appears,” quipped Jun Pyo.

Ji Hoo came smiling to his friends who were all gathered for their snorkeling trip.

“All set for the day? Where is Yi Jung?”

Everyone, except Ha Jin, stiffened at the mention of the name.

“Sunbae is not feeling well…”

“He is just hung over. He is sleeping. So, no need to bother,” added Jun Pyo quickly.

“Ok. Have a good trip. I will take Ha Jin to the nearby clinic. We will meet you when you are back.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Yi Jung stared at his ceiling for a long time after his eyes opened in the morning. All the scenes from the last night flashed in front of his eyes one by one.

He was about to leave his room for the yacht when his phone beeped with an incoming message. He opened it to see some picture messages sent from an unknown number. He frowned a little and clicked to open the message. The couple of pictures flashing on his phone hit his mind immediately. They were pictures of his father and a girl, who was too familiar to him, in compromising positions. And the attire on the girl, which was almost half way off her shoulders, confirmed the day all these must have taken place.

Yes, it was the day he had come back from Sweden for a short vacation with Elsa, the Swedish girl who he had been dating for some time. He was not sure whether he had already started loving her, but knew that love would grow between them eventually. He had brought her to their family art museum, when he received a call from his mom’s number. But this time it was not a frantic voice of his mother, threatening for suicide; but a worried voice of their butler, informing him about his mother being admitted to the hospital. He apologised to Elsa, and asked her to wait for him at the museum, while he would quickly visit his mom at the hospital. He did not want to overwhelm her with his mother’s condition. Never had he expected the situation to be so grave for him to see his mom taking her last breath in front of him. Ironically, this time she had not even attempted suicide, she had accidentally slipped and rolled down the flights of stairs.

Yi Jung had lost his mind completely, desperately trying to reach his father’s phone. It kept on ringing. None of his friends knew where he was. It was not before the next morning that his father called him back. And even later, it dawned to him that Elsa was supposed to wait for him at the museum. On calling her she told him that she was going back to Sweden that day. He apologised for his absence, and told him he had a family emergency which he needed to attend to.

And here he could see why his father had not picked up his numerous calls. And more importantly, why Elsa had refused to keep in touch with him after returning to Sweden. All this while he thought she felt left out in a foreign land which made her angry. And with his personal life in turmoil, he did not pursue her anymore.

His blood boiled at all the thoughts of betrayal, his father’s, Elsa’s, and above all his fate’s. He could not think straight anymore. He wanted to scream at the Almighty, or drown himself in oblivion. But all he could do was douse himself in alcohol and walk on to the bar for some more, when he met her…

Yi Jung closed his eyes in regret. Never in his life he had misbehaved with any girl. He might have been cold sometimes, but had never humiliated any girl. His head was throbbing with a searing pain. His thoughts were all getting tangled again. But he needed to do something urgently. But what, he could not remember. He rose from his bed with great difficulty and dragged himself to the toilet.